Married, gay immigrant fights to stay in Houston area

Costa Rican accountant wed Californian in 2008, but faces deportation because he overstayed his tourist visa

SUSAN CARROLL, HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Published 5:30 am, Wednesday, July 13, 2011

An attorney for a gay Costa Rican immigrant married to a U.S. citizen plans to ask a Houston judge on Thursday to halt deportation proceedings while the courts weigh the future of a federal law forbidding same-sex marriage.

David Gonzalez, a 35-year-old accountant from Costa Rica who overstayed his tourist visa, is to appear before a Houston immigration judge Thursday morning, accompanied by his partner, Mario Ramirez, a U.S. citizen he married in California in 2008.

For years he dreaded this day, Gonzalez said, but his hopes have been buoyed by a spate of high-profile cases involving same-sex couples and by the support of Ramirez, whom he considers his "soul mate."

The Houston case comes on the heels of several recent decisions that have — at least temporarily — spared from deportation gays and lesbians who are in long-term relationships with U.S. citizens. On Wednesday, a San Francisco immigration judge postponed for two years the deportation proceedings against a Venezuelan man married to a U.S. citizen.

In June, the U.S. government canceled deportation proceedings for a Venezuelan man in New Jersey married to an American man - a high-profile case that advocates for immigrants and gays said signals a major shift toward greater leniency for same-sex couples in immigration proceedings.

"Certainly the families and couples we work with are more hopeful today than really at any prior point," said Steve Ralls, a spokesman for the national advocacy group Immigration Equality.

DOMA's future a factor

The issue has gained traction since the Obama administration questioned the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which bars the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. Immigrant and gay advocates have asked the government to stop deporting gay and lesbian couples who could be eligible for family-based green cards if the law is declared unconstitutional.

But the idea of granting any kind of immigration benefits to same-sex couples remains highly controversial, and has met with staunch opposition from immigration-control advocates and from Christian conservatives who oppose gay marriage.

"Until the overall definition of marriage is changed by Congress and signed by the government, any attempt to treat same-sexes couples as spouses for the purposes of immigration is just a lawless act - there is no nice way to put it," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which advocates for stricter immigration controls.

So far, the government has not made any blanket policy changes involving same-sex couples in immigration proceedings, said Gillian Christensen, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman. She said the government will continue to enforce DOMA until Congress repeals it or the law is ruled unconstitutional by the courts.

Still, immigrant and gay advocates have found hope in the recent victories for same-sex couples and in a Junememo by ICE Director John Morton, who instructed his agents and attorneys to use the agency's limited resources to prioritize the deportations of immigrants with serious criminal records. Field agents and attorneys were ordered to consider a wide range of factors - including familial ties to U.S. citizens - when deciding whether to pursue deportation cases.

John Nechman, Gonzalez's immigration attorney, said his firm requested that the government consider dismissing Gonzalez's deportation case last fall, but the request was turned down. Nechman said he plans to ask judge Richard D. Walton to consider shelving the case until the DOMA controversy is resolved.

Green card not an option

If Ramirez and Gonzalez were a heterosexual couple, they could simply file a green card application on Gonzalez's behalf based on their marriage, Nechman noted. "But because of the unfairness of the law, we can't do that," he said.

"We are as normal as any other married couple," said Gonzalez. "I see no reason why the government should discriminate against us. It's unjust."

If the judge denies the request to close the case, Nechman said he is prepared to move ahead with an asylum claim on his client's behalf. Gonzalez said he left Costa Rica in the spring of 2000 on a tourist visa to escape an abusive ex-lover who worked for the Costa Rican police.

California vows still valid

Gonzalez was living in California in 2005 when he and Ramirez, 37, met and quickly became inseparable. They were married in a backyard ceremony in Los Angeles in October 2008.

Shortly after their wedding, California passed Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution that limited marriages to those between a man and a woman. The same-sex marriages are now on appeal and remain valid there, though the state is granting no new ones, Nechman said.

After the California economy soured, the couple moved to Texas, buying a house near Humble.

Gonzalez said he just wants a chance to show the immigration judge that he and Ramirez are like any other couple, and should be able to stay together in the U.S. based on their marriage — like a heterosexual couple would be able to do.

"We have a house," Gonzalez said. "We are a family. We want to be able to adopt kids, which we haven't done because we don't know what is going to happen."

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